Steve Jones

He made his final appearance for the club on 26 March in the 3–1 defeat by Plymouth Argyle, he came off the bench in 75th minute replacing Kevin Townson.

Stephen Graham Jones (born 25 October 1976) is a Northern Irish footballer who plays for Sandbach United football club.

He has been capped 29 times by Northern Ireland and played for 20 clubs in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Jones was born in Derry, Northern Ireland and moved to Manchester with his family at age 13.

He replaced Rodney Jack in the 82nd minute of the 5–2 defeat at Maine Road.

On 27 October, he made his first start for the club in the 1–0 defeat by Sheffield United at Brammall Lane.

In his late teens, he played for Chadderton in the North West Counties Division One before signing for Blackpool in July 1995.

After spending time playing for Blackpool's youth and reserve teams, he signed for Bury on a free transfer in July 1996.

Unable to settle at Bury and frustrated by the lack of first-team opportunities, Jones decided to move to the Republic of Ireland and sign for League of Ireland side Sligo Rovers in July 1997, stating that Rovers manager Nicky Reid's offer of a full-time contract was what ultimately made up his mind.

On 30 August 1997, he made his debut for The Bit o' Red in the league match against Bohemians, scoring just before half-time in the 2–2 draw at The Showgrounds.

He spent almost two seasons with Sligo and won the League of Ireland Cup after playing in the final against Shelbourne in February 1998.

After Chorley were relegated at the end of the 1998–99 season, Jones signed for fellow Northern Premier League side Leigh RMI in August 1999.

This came after he impressed RMI manager Steve Waywell in the final home game of the previous season against Chorley.

He had a successful first season with The Railwaymen, scoring 18 goals in 40 games that helped RMI gain promotion to the Football Conference.

Jones attracted interest from several clubs during the summer, but he ultimately signed a new four-year deal at Leigh, stating he was happier than he had been at any time in his playing career and his heart was with Leigh.

Overall, he played 46 games and scored 6 goals for Sligo before moving to Bray Wanderers in January 1999.

Jones made his debut for Bray on 22 January, playing in the 0–0 league draw with Finn Harps at Carlisle Grounds.

Later that year, Jones was homesick and moved back to England, later having a brief spell with Northern Premier League side Chorley where he played in the last four games of the season for The Magpies.

On 19 August 2000, Jones started in Leigh's first game in the Conference, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–1 defeat by fellow newly promoted side Dagenham & Redbridge.

He won a penalty after clumsy challenge from Ashley Vickers, which led to Tony Black scoring RMI's goal.

He played in the 3–0 FA Cup first round defeat by Millwall at The Den on 19 November.

On 3 March 2001, Jones scored the first hat-trick of his career in the 6–2 league win against Nuneaton Borough.

He finished the season with 21 goals in all competitions, these went a long way to firing RMI to a fifth-place finish in the Conference, the club's highest ever league finish.

At the Conference Annual General Meeting on 2 June, Jones was named in the Football Conference Team of the Year, as voted for by the league's managers.

Jones attracted interest from a number of clubs in the close season, Morecambe being the first to make a bid for the Northern Irishman in late May.

The Shrimps had bids of £30,000 and £45,000 rejected by RMI.

Tranmere Rovers were the next club to take an interest in Jones and manager Dave Watson took him on trial at the beginning of July.

However, it was Crewe Alexandra who won the race for Jones' signature after manager Dario Gradi persuaded him to sign on 3 July.

He signed for Crewe on a three-year contract in a deal worth £75,000 to Leigh, and £75,000 more to come after 60 appearances.

Jones made his debut for Crewe in the league game against Manchester City on 25 August 2001.

Despite being a regular goalscorer in the reserves, Jones found first-team opportunities scarce in his first season at Crewe, so it was decided he would join Third Division side Rochdale on a month's loan in February 2002.

He returned from his loan in April and featured in two of Crewe's remaining games in the First Division, coming on as a substitute in the away defeats to Gillingham and Wimbledon.

Jones made his debut for Rochdale on 5 February 2002, playing the full 90 minutes in the 5–4 win against York City at Spotland Stadium.

He scored his first goal for The Dale on 23 February, scoring the opening goal in the 2–1 defeat at Scunthorpe United.

On 7 March, Rochdale manager John Hollins confirmed that Jones would stay at the club for at least another month, but the deal would involve a 24-hour recall option for Crewe.

Following Crewe's relegation to the Second Division, Jones started to feature in the first-team more prominently at the start of the 2002–03 season.

He scored a brace against Colchester United in January 2003 and another against Northampton Town in February, these went towards the 11 goals in all competitions he scored that helped The Railwaymen to a second-place finish in the Second Division, gaining them promotion back to the First Division.

He made his first appearance of the season on 13 August, replacing Dave Brammer in the 60th minute of the 3–0 defeat by Notts County at Gresty Road.

Jones scored his first goals for Crewe in the league match against Queens Park Rangers, he netted both goals in the 2–0 win on 5 October.

He followed that up by scoring the third goal in the 4–1 win at Stockport County a week later.